MTH GG-1 ps2 issue

First you need to replace the battery. Start there.

NJCJOE posted:

First you need to replace the battery. Start there.

Yes, bcr on the way in a few days....would dead battery not let lights come on or not let train move? Getting conflicting reports on this one. Thanks for reply.

Older PS-2 5V boards notorious for dying especially as old as it is even with no real time used.  Having a good battery helps, but chances are the board may be dead.   Take shell off, us a new 9V alkaline for testing, make sure all harnesses fully plugged in and try it.  IF high current or no response most likely dead and your only recourse is upgrade to a PS-32 board.  Which might be more than you want to spend on a RK GG-1.  G

GGG posted:

Older PS-2 5V boards notorious for dying especially as old as it is even with no real time used.  Having a good battery helps, but chances are the board may be dead.   Take shell off, us a new 9V alkaline for testing, make sure all harnesses fully plugged in and try it.  IF high current or no response most likely dead and your only recourse is upgrade to a PS-32 board.  Which might be more than you want to spend on a RK GG-1.  G

Yes, this is the scenario I was dreading...paid good money for this engine a few years back and “babied” it, hopefully this is not the case, was hoping for a low cost option...moreover though, what would have caused this to happen, seems just having it sit in storage would not hurt the engine.

I have a Premier Dreyfuss Hudson of the same vintage.  After working for a 15 years, one day it just stopped.  The 5 volt board gave up.  While not a cheap repair the locomotive has a lot of sentimental value to me.  I sent it to George (GGG).  Including transit time it was only gone for about a week.

Glad to hear that Dan, hopefully you got a lot of use from your locomotive.  What irks me though about this whole thing is that this engine was so rarely used and to take it back out of the box after a few years and get no power is so unacceptable.  Are we as hobbyists ok with dropping $500 on an item only to have it just stop working, not due to abuse or misuse but just from storing? 

When you applied power it died.  I can't really explain why and many say because of battery which I do not think is the cause.  Capacitors can go bad and then  the potential current surge damages other transistor chips and board just stops functioning.  Not a board easy to work on because of the soldered header.  3V boards could be pulled apart to access failed components and repair. 5V not so much.  G